THROUGH constant efforts to enhance the quality of education delivery and ensure access to learning at its alma mater, The New York Tri-State Chapter of the Bishops’ High School Alumni Association recently donated 60 Android tablets to the school at its Carmichael Street, Georgetown, location.
The tablets are expected to assist students and teachers to bridge the learning gap created with the advent of COVID-19 and the resultant remote learning environment.
President of the New York Chapter, Wayne Knight, handed over the tablets to the Headmistress, Marilyn Gibson, in the presence of students, Shinia Daniels and Shakeel Babb.
Before they were handed over to the school, the tablets were equipped with several applications by ICT firm Brainstreet, which specialises in information management and business services. The firm is headed by former student of the school, Lance Hinds.

“What has happened is that most schools are utilising online learning platforms. So we had to have Google apps installed onto the tablets. They’re Amazon Fire tablets, but although they’re Android devices, they do not come equipped with Google apps, like Google classrooms; and children need to utilise these platforms to access work from the school,” Wayne Knight explained, in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle.
He also mentioned Microsoft Word as one of the additional applications installed on the devices.
The New York Alumni Chapter, which is currently the school’s most active alumni, has, in the past, provided the school with equipment and furniture, as well as collaborated with alumni from other chapters to give of their time and professional experiences by hosting biennial student conferences that are geared towards giving students insight into various professions after graduation.

Their most recent ventures, in collaboration with the Alumni Association’s Toronto Chapter, included the retrofitting and furnishing of the school’s multimedia room, as well as the removal and replacement of old Internet cables within the school.
The recent project, which was to be implemented last year, originally consisted of the provision of laptop computers to the school, to assist the students with their research. However, Knight explained that with the absence of face-to-face learning, the Alumni Association decided to find an alternative project to work on.
“The children weren’t in school, so it didn’t make sense to jump on that plan right away; so we came up with this initiative…. It would have been a better idea to provide them with devices.”
He described the overall execution of the project as ‘seamless’, and noted that the Alumni Association continues to maintain constant communication with the Bishops’ High School to facilitate continuous improvements for the school.